Who is Jakob Junis? 5 things to know about the Rangers’ latest bullpen addition

The Texas Rangers’ offseason bullpen rebuild continued on Sunday.

Texas added right-handed pitcher Jakob Junis on a one-year, $4 million contract with an mutual option for a second year. Other relief pitching moves this offseason include left-hander Tyler Alexander, right-hander Chris Martin and right-hander Alexis Díaz.

Here are five things to know about Junis:

1. The basics

Rangers

Position: Pitcher

Handedness: Right

Born: September 16, 1992 (Age: 33)

High school: Rock Falls Township HS (Rock Falls, IL)

MLB debut: April 12, 2017

Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Jakob Junis works against the Texas Rangers during a... 2. Journeyman

Junis is a well-traveled MLB veteran. When he suits up for the Rangers next season, Texas will be his sixth major league franchise in 10 seasons.

He spent the first five years of his career with the Kansas City Royals, the team that drafted him. From there, he spent two years in San Francisco with the Giants. In 2024 he played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds.

He arrives in Texas after one full season in Cleveland where he pitched to a 2.97 ERA in 66 2/3 innings across 57 games in 2025.

3. Reliever renaissance

While Junis has nine major-league seasons under his belt, he only became a relief pitcher relatively recently.

In fact, he was a starter when he broke into the major leagues with Kansas City back in 2017. He eclipsed 15 starts and 85 innings in four of the first six seasons of his career.

Junis was used primarily as a reliever for the first time in 2023 and has put up a 3.24 ERA across 219 2/3 innings since he made the switch. His ERA in the six seasons prior to the switch was 4.75.

4. His repertoire

Junis has a pretty standard four-pitch repertoire — 4-seam fastball, sinker, slider and changeup — but his usage is anything but ordinary.

He throws his slider 44% of the time and his changeup another 20% of the time, making up well over half the pitches he throws. His sinker is his primary fastball at nearly 27% and he only mixes in the four-seamer occasionally, throwing it less than 9% of the time.

His usage largely matches the pitches’ effectiveness. His offspeed offerings are among the best in baseball and rate in the 92nd percentile in run value, according to Baseball Savant. His breaking pitches are also above average, ranking in the 69th percentile in run value. By contrast, his fastballs are only in the 20th percentile in run value.

5. Not your typical late, late round draft pick

Junis signed with the Royals out of high school after they selected him in the 29th round of the 2011 MLB draft. Except he wasn’t the typically late round pick.

He received a $675,000 signing bonus when he signed, according to the Kansas City Star. That bonus is comparable with players who were taken among the first 60 selections of that year’s draft.

The outsized bonus was in large part because Junis slid in the draft because committed to North Carolina State and it was expected that he’d pitch in college rather than sign out of high school.

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